Mr Evans added: "All I ask for now is for this meeting to be a positive one, and I hope to have Alfie, on the terms of mine and Alder Hey, to be home within a day or two.

"If the meeting doesn't go well today, well then, I'll go back to court."

He accused doctors at the hospital of being "wrong" about their diagnosis: "Alfie lives, comfortably, happily, without ventilation, without any form of ventilation.

"That must be enough for you now to consider that Alfie may prove you wrong."

February 20: Mr Justice Hayden rules in favour of hospital bosses at the High Court, accepting medical evidence which shows further treatment is futile

March 6: Court of Appeal judges uphold the decision

March 20: Supreme Court justices decide the case is not worth arguing and refuse permission for another appeal

March 28: The European Court of Human Rights rejects a bid from Mr Evans and Ms James, saying they found no human rights violation

April 16: Alfie's parents argue he is being wrongly "detained" at Alder Hey Hospital. Judges at the Court of Appeal in London rule against them and again uphold the decisions of Mr Justice Hayden

April 20: The Supreme Court rules against Alfie's parents for a second time, refusing permission to appeal

April 23: The European Court of Human Rights refuses an application by Alfie's parents, saying it is inadmissible. A High Court Judge dismisses new submissions by Alfie's parents, and his life support is withdrawn by doctors

Mr Evans said Alfie was "not suffering" and not in pain.

He said: "As I sit next to Alfie's bedside, every second of every day, it encourages me more and more that he will live for 'x' amount of months, possibly years."

Police remained outside the hospital on Thursday, after Alder Hey said its staff had experienced "unprecedented personal abuse".

In an open letter, the hospital chairman Sir David Henshaw and chief executive Louise Shepherd: "Having to carry on our usual day-to-day work in a hospital that has required a significant police presence just to keep our patients, staff and visitors safe is completely unacceptable."

Alfie has been at the centre of a life-or-death treatment battle, with his parents trying to block doctors from withdrawing life support in a sometimes acrimonious six-month dispute which has seen a series of court battles.